2013 Ford Escape Titanium review notes: So different it could have used a new name

October 29, 2012

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EXECUTIVE EDITOR ROGER HART: I really like the new design, inside and out of the 2013 Ford Escape. This looks like what crossovers should look like, and this is such a big departure from the vehicle it replaces, it seems a shame to call it by the same name. There were a couple of big disappointments for me like the acres of hard plastic in the interior and the flat-bottom seats are just downright uncomfortable. I would not buy the car simply because I dislike the seats so much.

I drove this car to RM Auctions' headquarters in Ontario and with four people and all the camera/video gear, it was a tight fit. This is not a big car.

I'm still not a fan of the Sync radio system. The touchscreen buttons are very small, and it requires you to take your eyes off the road to make the adjustments. I also had trouble getting this system to pair with my phone--it's the same sort of issues I've had before. Other cars have done the pairing in seconds, rather than the minutes it takes for this system to work. It shouldn't have to be this difficult.

EDITOR WES RAYNAL: I drove the Escape--Kuga to the rest of the world--with the 1.6-liter turbo on the preview and liked it a lot. Thus I was looking forward to driving the 2.0-liter. I have to say that I'd just go with the 1.6 and save fuel and money on the sticker. There's not that big of a difference from what I remember of the 1.6.

It's all good with the rest of the car, just as it was on the long lead but I got to say two people thought I was in some kind of new Subaru. So that's one of Ford's challenges with its new baby. That and the recalls Ford has issued for the new Escape already.

Ford's C-platform underpins the new Escape, on which also sit the three- and five-door Focus and the C-Max.

As I said from the Escape preview drive, I think the new ute actually borders on fun to drive. It handles well and I'd argue there's an overall feeling of refinement not found in other small SUVs. Power's better than the 1.6, but it's marginal and I don't know if I'd spend the money.

Most impressive is the Escape's smoothness. Each one I drive I notice only slight wind noise and road noise. The Escape is miles ahead of, say, the Volkswagen Tiguan that recently made its way through the Autoweek fleet in Detroit.

EXECUTIVE EDITOR BOB GRITZINGER: I had the opportunity to do a firsthand comparison between this top-of-the-line all-new 2013 Escape with the 2001 Escape XLT in my driveway. As you might expect, I came away impressed by the new model, but not just because it's not 12 years old with 75,000 miles on the clock.

First off, the styling of the new model plays some tricks, making the new car appear smaller and sleeker than the old box on box SUV. But when you put the vehicles side by side, length, height and ground clearance appear nearly identical and width is pretty close. Interior volume looks about the same, as does legroom, shoulder room and cargo capacity. That's all good, because I would've guessed the new car was shrunken by at least a little bit.

Second, this 2.0-liter turbo four gives up nothing to the 3.0-liter V6 in my old XLT when it comes to performance. The turbo engine pulls strong from a stop and gets to 60 mph without any struggle or raucous engine noise. Very smooth and refined.

Third, the ride quality in this vehicle is top notch, with a steady on-center feel, good steering response, reasonable body control and a lack of harshness that, as noted, is uncommon for this segment.

That said, I'd hope for some road isolation and quietness in this high-trim $38,000 example of the breed--I think you'd have had to add an aftermarket SVT/Roush kit of engine and aero mods to the previous Escape to push it to that number. The stitched-leather seats are plush yet sporty, the equipment is specialized, including a full-on Sync system (more on that later), blind-spot detection, and the cool “wave your foot under the bumper” automatic liftgate open/close system. Handy, handy, handy.

Though I think Ford needs to check with some real-world adult buyers when they choose which redundant buttons to offer for control of audio and navigation, I found the Sync system fairly functional for the first time ever. Paired my phone easily (which was auto-repeated each time I got into the car) and got the system to recognize and compute three divergent addresses in my weekend of driving. It took some cajoling at times, and I did cheat and pronounce Gratiot “Grat Ti Ot” so it'd pick it up, but otherwise it was more functional than my past experiences. Just not sure about requiring either a careful fingertip on a touch screen or voice commands as the only options for accessing some common features. Some extra redundant buttons would be helpful, for station presets, for instance.

I like this new Escape. Here's hoping it's functioning as well as my used one 12 years from now.